


The World Finds a Way to Sting You

by LNHWrites



Category: Dynasty (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Future AU, Kinda cute kinda angst, falliam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21812866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LNHWrites/pseuds/LNHWrites
Summary: Two un-related but companion one-shots in which Liam and Fallon both have a high school reunion to attend, and they take each other. But who knows who else will be there? Or how it might affect our darling Falliam and their relationship?
Relationships: Fallon Carrington/Liam Ridley
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This one is regarding Fallon’s ten year reunion. Set sometime in the next year or so, irrelevant to current canon. The second part will also be separate, but sort of a companion so I’m putting them both together as one work.

Why people thought they needed to do the whole high school reunion thing was absolutely beyond Fallon. Everybody would either be cocky as hell, thinking that everyone would be jealous of how far they’d come, or perhaps impressed that they didn’t fail — or they’d be a miserable wreck because their life fell apart. And those folks would probably be the ones getting drunk at the bar while everyone else mingled or danced or whatever people even did at a reunion.

She hadn’t actually been interested in going, but Liam was adamant that she should, if only to maybe reconnect with any of the positive influences she’d had back in school. With things as complicated as they were for both Liam and Fallon with their families, it was hard to find an outside person to confide in, and he wanted that option for her. Even if she decided she was too strong to actually take that chance on someone besides him or perhaps Sam and Monica. It didn’t hurt to have a wider circle of friends, in his opinion.

So she had agreed, albeit very reluctantly, to go provided he made sure he had the night free. He had put it on his calendar immediately and Fallon had all but forgotten it, choosing to let him worry about that so she didn’t have to wonder what her former classmates would inevitably have to say about her now.

The afternoon finally came around, and Fallon had pushed it so far from her mind that she had put together a plan to spend the evening at Liam’s house with the sole intention of taking him to bed and keeping him there. But when she came home from work she was surprised to find that he wasn’t cooking like he usually enjoyed doing. Instead, he was freshly showered and standing in the bathroom in a towel, steam still fogging the mirror as he tried to comb his hair into submission. The slight curl in the strands was fighting against him, but it just made his fiancée smile as she leaned against the door frame.

“Got a hot date?” She asked him cheekily, tilting her head and lifting an eyebrow in slight warning. 

“I do,” he agreed simply.

Fallon frowned. That didn't make any sense. Not even a little bit. Liam would never... “Oh? With _whom_?”

He looked over at her and smirked. “Well, it’s this woman I met several years back.” His smirk just grew more amused as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Really clever, outrageously sexy-“

Fallon stood up straight, her eyes widening even as she somehow looked all the more furious.

“-and she runs her own publishing company.” Liam lifted an eyebrow, watching as understanding began to dawn on her face. He stepped forward, reaching for her hands, and smiled at her more softly. “Your reunion’s tonight, remember? You said I had to go with you.”

Fallon let out a groan and dropped her head backwards in what was essentially a whole-body eye roll. Liam chuckled under his breath and pulled her closer to kiss her neck, which made her melt against him instantly.

“Get dressed, Fal. We leave at six thirty.”

He pulled away and she whined, but did as he asked.

——————

She’d taken longer than she meant to just on picking out an outfit. It had to be something that said she was not to be messed with, and that she was successful and happy and not the arguably evil little girl she’d become after Christmas break her Sophomore year. Liam didn’t say anything about her deliberating, but when he caught the nervousness in her gaze, he made sure to offer a few little uplifting comments on their way out the door.

They arrived as fashionably late as Fallon could manage, but Liam tugged her along, picking up name tags for them and making sure she signed the book that she thought was decidedly stupid.

“Who’s taking it home, anyway?” She muttered even as she did as he directed her to. “Someone from the yearbook club?”

“Not sure,” Liam replied as he stuck his name tag on his shirt where it wouldn’t get covered by his tie.

Just as Fallon straightened up and he handed her a sticker of her own, which she of course grimaced at, she caught sight of someone behind him. They were staring at her, like they weren’t sure it was really her.

“Oh, god,” she muttered, ducking her chin when they started walking her way.

“What?” Liam looked around, as if afraid she was already headed for a confrontation. And maybe she was.

Fallon grabbed his hand, tried to escape, but heard her name and came to an immediate halt. She turned, tucking herself into Liam’s side like she could hide there, and offered a tight smile. “Robby,” she greeted. 

Liam’s arm wrapped around her back and he gave her waist a little squeeze, and Fallon could only interpret that as some kind of confusion or maybe an attempt at solidarity on his part.

Robby Reid had been a little fling, in Fallon’s mental re-write of her high school years. But her mother had apparently thought they were enough of a thing to fend Jeff off when he came to pick her up for the dance. And after St. Barths... well, a small part of her could admit to being hurt a little, even still.

“You came!” Robby said, smile on his face. But then he paid more attention to the way Liam was holding her. “Who’s this?”

Fallon’s hand lifted to Liam’s chest and she lifted her chin just a little, pride evident in her voice as she explained. “Liam Ridley. My fiancé. He was hellbent on meeting my friends from high school. So, yes. We came. Liam, this is Robby.”

Liam extended a hand and Robby shook it, but his face was openly shocked. “Fiancé? I never pictured you getting married.” 

Her scowl was instant and unstoppable. Of course he didn’t. Robby noticed, and corrected himself.

“Congrats. You two look, y’know, happy together.”

But really, they looked irked. Fallon was uncomfortable and livid, and Liam could read her so easily there was no way he didn’t see what was happening in her body language. 

“Thanks,” Liam said for her, nodding. Then he looked to Fallon and put on his usual, adoring look that he wore when they were around people who challenged them or their relationship. “I’m still amazed that she ended up choosing me.” Fallon blushed slightly before he turned back to Robby. “Couldn’t be happier.”

Something uncomfortable lingered in the air until Robby excused himself to go talk to someone else. Once he was no longer looking their way, Fallon relaxed into Liam’s side, letting out a heavy sigh.

“What was that about?” Liam asked, lifting an eyebrow. 

“I’d rather not get into it all where just anybody could overhear...”

Liam nodded, but looked around for a moment before something dawned on his face and he began pulling her along by the waist. He led her out into a section of the hotel’s ballroom which had been set aside for dancing, and much to her disapproval, opened his palm to her. “How about here?”

Fallon sighed again, but she didn’t want to go talk to people either, so at least dancing with Liam was safer. Even if she wasn’t actually very good at dancing. This was more about swaying and talking, anyway. 

So they settled into a rhythm and Fallon took a few moments to figure out how best to explain without getting too visibly angry. Finally, she stepped a little closer to him and gave it her best shot. “So... I dated Robby in high school, but not for very long. It was after Alexis left. I was — well. I was a lot of trouble back then. More than I am even now.”

He smiled a little, holding back whatever comment was on the tip of his tongue. Fallon rolled her eyes at him, but kept on.

“It made me want Blake’s attention more than ever, and I definitely went about it the wrong way. We took a trip with Monica and some other friends, to St. Barths. I’d been there a lot before; it’s where I first picked up an interest in French. But it’s also where he cheated on me.”

Liam looked shocked, but Fallon was searching the crowd with her eyes. After a moment she tensed and subtly gestured with one hand towards a woman across the room. Blonde, curvy, flirting heavily with Robby and his friends. 

“With her. And of course I caught them at it.”

“Then what?” Liam asked, brow furrowed in concern for her.

“I called for the plane and I left them there. Well. Monica came back with me. But everyone else stayed.”

Speaking of Monica, it occurred to Fallon that she hadn’t seen her friend yet. Maybe Monica had thought better of it all and decided to skip it. Fallon was pretty sure she should have done the same. 

She didn’t realize she had zoned out again until Liam’s hand drew her in closer and he tilted his head to catch her eye. “That guy is clearly an idiot,” he told her firmly. “He has no idea what he’s missing, and honestly, based on his shock before, maybe he regrets it more than he could bring himself to admit.”

Fallon looked a little hopeful but didn’t reply. Instead, she just leaned forward and pressed her temple against his, letting him lead them in the dance a little longer. Her eyes closed after a moment, about when she thought she could feel the stares of everyone who had judged and hated her back in school. 

In the end, she didn’t really spend the evening as Liam had hoped. Once they found Monica, she stuck to what she knew and didn’t branch further out. Liam all but told off Robby when he tried to ask Fallon to dance, though Fallon reached a hand to his shoulder to stop him. And then gave Robby a very firm _No_. 

And by the time things started to wrap up, Fallon was leaning heavily on Liam’s shoulder, and he suggested they head back home. She agreed gratefully, said goodbye to Monica, and let him guide her out to his car and drive her home.

Around eleven, they were back in the bathroom, this time with Fallon combing out her hair after pulling on one of Liam’s shirts, while Liam brushed his teeth. It had all become a comfortable, familiar routine over the past year, and being in this companionable silence with him felt as simple and right as breathing. Eventually, she tugged him towards the bed and curled up against his side, snuggling up to him in a way that she used to make fun of.

She expected him to drift off right away, but instead he turned to look at her as she started to brush her fingers through his hair.

“You know... I can see how much he hurt you. Especially so soon after Alexis,” Liam said, obviously not meaning to rile her up or upset her any further. His tone was pure sympathy. “But the thing is... I’m so glad he didn’t manage to hold onto you.”

“Oh yeah?” She asked, smiling a little even as she tried to bite back how pleased she was. It wasn’t like he didn’t tell her how he felt or what he thought; of course he did. The writer in him made it easier, she supposed. But he was rarely as possessive as he’d been in front of Robby, and admittedly, she had really liked and appreciated it.

“Yeah.” He leaned down to brush his nose against hers before kissing her briefly. “I don’t know if I could’ve fought off him _and_ Culhane.”

Fallon let out a sharp laugh, leaning back to shake her head at him. “Nice.”

“I mean, it’s true, isn’t it? You liked him. Seriously. Otherwise it wouldn’t have hurt so much.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “I thought I did. But I thought I loved Michael, too, until I met you.”

Liam’s expression turned sort of serious and heated, but he just asked, “So you’re admitting you were wrong?”

Fallon rolled her eyes again and just lifted herself up to hover over him, then leaned down to kiss him thoroughly. Partly to shut him up, but also to make sure he knew just how serious she was. A lot had finally made sense when she met him, and despite what he had actually intended, what she’d gotten out of going that night was much more important to her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the companion one, with Liam's high school reunion. Again, irrelevant to canon for the current season, just a future AU for the lolz.

Fallon was going through their mail when she saw an oddly formal envelope addressed to Liam. A wedding invitation maybe? Christmas card? She wasn't supposed to open his mail, since it was illegal and all, but she sure wanted to anyway. Except that's when Liam walked through the door and walked up behind her to wrap his arms around her middle. His chin dropped to her shoulder even though he expected the scoff she responded with when he squished her curls between them.

"What's that?" He asked curiously when he noticed what she was looking at. One of the hands across her stomach lifted a little to point at the card, and Fallon flinched slightly as the motion sort of tickled her through her dress. "Open it."

She turned the envelope over and tore the flap to pull out the card inside. It was an invitation that someone obviously spent far too much money on. But based on what Liam had told her, perhaps that wasn't so surprising. He'd had a small graduating class, and went to an excessively preppy school in New York that Fallon could only imagine was something akin to the glamor of _Gossip Girl_... but richer. Maybe now she would finally get a chance to find out.

"Who's Marissa?"

"Girl from my class," he replied, holding his palm out for the invitation. "I should probably go."

Fallon turned her chin, leaning away a little so she could look at him. "What, your mom will chide you if you don't?"

"Well, yeah. But also, I loved being away from home and living at school. These people, they were my family back then. Especially after Dad died."

She softened instantly, and dropped the side of her head against his. "Then you should definitely go. I didn't realize you stayed at the school; I just thought you commuted or something."

Liam laughed. "Not for how much it cost, no." He pressed a kiss to her jaw. "But, I'm pretty sure that invite says Liam Ridley and a plus one. So _we_ should go."

"That definitely does not sound like fun. Wouldn't you rather just catch up with your buddies or whatever? That'd be easier to do without me tagging along."

Liam stepped around, reaching for her upper arms to turn her towards him. "Or, I could enjoy myself by showing off my girlfriend to all the poor saps who thought they were better than me. You have to admit you'd enjoy that."

The smirk on her face confirmed his suspicions, and it took very little convincing beyond that for her to agree to go with him. Liam sent in his RSVP that night, and wondered a little bit whether they would regret it later on. But in truth, he was looking forward to it. So as the date finally came around, he eagerly arranged for his plane to take them up to New York, and specifically made sure not to tell his mother they were going to be there.

Fallon was tempted to try and talk him out of going once they made it to the hotel, perhaps with promises of activities that were a bit more _fun_ , but she could tell how eager he was for the event to arrive, so she tried to be on her best behavior. 

They arrived right on time, which she managed to keep from commenting on with a little bit of effort. But it seemed that the other former students were sort of on Liam's level, because they ended up approaching a group that had already gathered in the lobby of the ritzy hotel that they'd rented out for the night.

"Van Kirk!" Someone called as they walked in, and Fallon somehow managed to only let her eyebrow lift a little bit. That's right. He'd still been Jack Van Kirk while attending high school. That would be a weird thing to absorb.

Liam let go of her hand to speed up and hug the other man tightly, a wide grin on his face that Fallon had to admit was unbelievably charming. So maybe this evening wouldn't be so bad after all. She held back, wanting to give him time with his friends, but one of them noticed her almost immediately.

"Who's this?"

Liam held a hand out to her, which she stepped forward to take, a falsely modest smile on her face. The smirk on his made clear he knew exactly what she was thinking. "My girlfriend," he explained, "Fallon."

"As in Carrington?" Their expression lit up with recognition as they looked at her more closely.

"Unfortunately," she said, widening her smile in an attempt at equally fake levity.

Liam let out a quiet chuckle, but just squeezed her hand a little tighter. While they made idle small talk that Fallon tried to enjoy, she was more focused on making sure she made a good impression. Not for her, exactly, but more for him. 

Frankly, it was already driving her crazy. Where was the showing her off part? What exactly was the purpose of a reunion when the class size was so minuscule? And-- Oh, absolutely not. Hell no.

"Ashley?"

Liam turned sharply at Fallon's confused voice, which clued her into the fact that she'd asked the question aloud, rather than just in her head. After reminding herself to keep her cool, she turned to Liam anyway, expression tense and disapproving.

"You didn't mention that the two of you were in the same year," she said too innocently.

"I didn't think she'd show," he said after a slightly panicked look flashed across his face. "It'll be fine, Fal. She's not naive enough to make a scene in front of these guys."

Though she leveled him with a gaze that said quite plainly that she disagreed, Fallon kept her mouth shut for the time being, and instead followed the group inside as the doors to the ballroom opened and they were invited over to the tables for dinner. Mercifully, Liam led Fallon over to a table that had been claimed by his friends, and the seats filled up before Ashley could come up with some excuse to join them.

Much to Fallon's irritation, however, Ashley sat directly behind her and Liam, and spent most of the dinner laughing too loudly and talking about how great her life was going at a volume that was clearly attention-seeking. While Liam seemed able to focus on their meal and the friends he'd sat them with, Fallon was having a harder and harder time keeping a pleasant expression on her face. On the one hand, whether he heard Ashley or not, he was ignoring her. Which Fallon approved of. But on the other hand, it seemed quite obvious that Ashley was merely ramping up her act.

The attendees started to disperse as they finished eating, to drink, dance, or retrieve desserts from an assortment over by one wall of the room. But when Liam went to stand up, Fallon dropped her hand to his leg. 

"I know," he said immediately but quietly, turning in his chair to face her. Fallon watched as his eyes drifted towards the other table. "Just ignore it. Ignore her. You know I've long since moved on," he reminded her, holding a hand out for her to take.

When she did, he stood and helped her up. As if they'd somehow triggered it, Ashley all but leapt from her chair and put herself directly into their path. Fallon gripped Liam's hand a little tighter as they stopped to avoid running into her.

"Ashley," Liam greeted uncomfortably. "I'm a little surprised you came."

"Well, since it seemed pretty obvious you'd bring _that_ with you," Ashley gestured towards Fallon, who huffed and looked away, "I figured I ought to come and make sure she doesn't embarrass you."

"The only one who's embarrassing themselves is you," Fallon snapped. But Liam drew her into his side in an attempt at calming her down. Too bad she didn't really catch onto that fact. "It's been far too long, honestly. Shouldn't you have realized by now that he doesn't want you? I wasn't there, but from the sounds of it, he actually even told you as much."

Ashley scoffed, but her lifted chin turned into a look of frustration when Liam leaned towards Fallon's ear to quietly ask her to just breathe. "It's not worth it, Fal," he told her. And in truth, Fallon liked that Ashley looked so angry at being unable to hear what he was saying. 

A smug, amused smirk pulled at Fallon's lips before she nodded, turned her chin to look at him, and kissed him perhaps a touch too long. As evidenced, much to Fallon's relief, by the fact that Ashley stormed off before the kiss ended.

"You don't have to be so worried, you know."

Fallon frowned at Liam slightly, her brow furrowing. "I'm not."

He clearly didn't believe that. One hand lifted to her jaw, and he brushed his thumb along her lower lip. "I appreciate that you're possessive. Genuinely. But you don't need to stress. Not about us. Not anymore, at least."

Her shoulders relaxed as he spoke, but she felt the need to explain herself nonetheless. So as soon as he moved his thumb out of the way, she did just that. "I know, Liam. It's not that I'm afraid. But... I know what being here means to you. And I don't want her to ruin that." Of course, as soon as she said that aloud, she realized that all she was doing by arguing with Ashley... was making things just as bad. She sighed and turned an apologetic look on him. "I'm sorry."

Liam smiled a little and leaned closer to press a kiss to her temple. "I know. But there's still time. And that means there's still time to make everybody jealous, like you wanted." He held a hand out to her, clearly holding back a laugh. "Dance with me?"

Fallon shook her head, then pointed over at the open bar. "Drinks first. Then I might be up for that."

He did laugh at that, and placed a hand on her lower back to walk over alongside her. And, to his surprise, it only took two drinks for Fallon to take his hand and lead him over to join the friends of his that they had eaten with. She was a little surprised to see that they weren't as formal as she had expected them all to be, but instead were just... well, fun. And Fallon was surprised all the more that she found herself liking them, and seemingly impressing them as Liam had initially hoped they would.

Whenever Liam caught the gaze of one of those cocky guys who had talked down to him back in school, he made a little more of a show, and reveled in the way her eyes lit up with secret approval. Well, secret to everyone else, anyway. 

Much to his amusement, when he told her things were wrapping up, she looked highly disappointed.

"Tell you what," he leaned in to brush his lips over hers in a manner meant to be coaxing. "We'll invite them down to Atlanta sometime. Okay?"

Fallon nodded, her smile a bit chagrined. "Deal."

So they said their goodbyes to his old friends and her new ones, telling them about their aims of having everyone down for a second get-together, but that time only with the people they really wanted to spend time with. It wasn't until they got into the car, though, that she let a wide, devious smirk pull at her lips.

"What?" He nudged her gently with his elbow.

"The best part was seeing her face," Fallon explained, refusing to so much as bother with Ashley's name, "when even that guy -- Garrett, right? When even he seemed jealous." Her proud smirk was impossible to miss, but it didn't stop Liam's reaction.

"Seemed? I could've punched him for what he said when you walked away." Liam's frown was adorable, and she laughed under her breath as she watched him mull over whatever had been said.

Still, she lifted a shoulder, unfazed. "You know I could defend myself, babe."

"I know," he agreed immediately. "And I wouldn't step in if you wanted to. But you should also know that you don't have to do that anymore. At least, not on your own."

Though she would never admit it aloud, Fallon quietly liked both his willingness to back off, and his desire to be there for her. Despite her obvious strength and intention to be her own hero, it was nice to know that she had backup when it came down to it. So she hummed her agreement and let her cheek drop against his shoulder in silent acceptance of his support.

"...Love you," she told him after a few moments of quiet.

Liam turned his head to press a kiss to the top of her head. "I love you, too, Fal."


End file.
